Valve mechanism



G. A. SUFFA.

VALVE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJI, 1918.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

GEORGE A. SUFFA, 0F DOBCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

VALVE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August'17, 1918. Serial No. 250,358.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. SUFFA, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dorchester, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Valve Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to valve mechanism and particularly to mechanism primarily for use in connection with ports 0 internal combustion motors and the, said invention has for its object the provision of novel means for holding and operating the tappet of said valves so as to insure quick operation during the seating and unseating of the said valve.

A further object of this invention is to produce a tappet adjustably connected to a sleeve having sliding connection and yieldable association with an outer sleeve, the said outer sleeve having a guide and means for its operation.

A further object of this invention is to produce a valve operating mechanism of the character indicated which will possess advantages in points of efficiency and durability while at the same time it is comparatively inexpensive to produce and maintain With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, ref erence will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of an engine, showing my invention applied, the valve being seated;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, in raised position;

Fig.3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view of my invention, detached, and in the same position as illustrated in Fig. 1; l

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate in detail the shock absorbing element.

the valve being In these drawings 10 denotes a valve and 11 a valve stem ada ted to coact with the portion of a motor, w ereas 12 denotes a collar on the valve stem constituting a seat for one end of the spring 13, it being understood that the opposite end of the spring has a bearing against a portion of the casin of the motor, so that through the action 0 the spring, the valve is held normally seated. l4 denotes a cam shaft and 15 a cam which may be of any appropriate type and they are usually mounted to rotate within a crank case 16. An outer sleeve 17 has a partially closed lower end 18 and the inner sleeve 19 is movably supported in the said outer sleeve.

A body 20 has a nipple portion threaded in the crank case and an apertured flange 20 rests on the said casing and bolts 20 extend through the apertures of the flange and are preferably threaded in apertures 20' in the crank case. The inner sleeve 19 has its lower end reduced to form a depending flange 25 and a shoulder 31 is formed at the junction of the said flange and body. A spring 30 has its upper end bearing against the said shoulder and its lower end bearing against the bottom of the outer sleeve so that the inner sleeve is yieldingly held elevated for a purpose to be presently explained. Said spring 30 is of the open or compression type, preferably made up of cylindrically coiled coils, and while sufficiently resistant to compression to hold forcibly separated the inner and outer sleeve between which it is interposed it is relatively so weak as compared with the valve spring 13 that its helices will become tightly closed together upon each other by the valve lifting movement of the outer sleeve before any movement of the inner sleeve, by which the valve 10 is lifted in opposition to the spring 13, can occur. The dimensions of said spring 30 with respect to the space occupied by the same when the valve-lifting mechanism is idle are such that said spring is in a state of compression with its helices lying in close proximity to,-

though essentially non-contiguous with, the helices adjacent thereto; so that the same are closed together and into contact with one another by the initial valve-lifting movement of the outer sleeve.

The lower portion of the outer sleeve has an aperture 35 which communicates with the interior of the said outer sleeve and the Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

under surface of the bottom the. sleeve 18 is recessed to form a racewayor seat 'for a ball bearing 21, there-being grooves,

such as 36 extending from the aperture 35 to the lower end ,of the sleeve, the said grooves constituting ways for the passage of lubricant. v The innensleeve has an upwardlpro ecting portion 24 which is preferab y rectangular in cross section and the sald upwardly extended portion' has a threaded aperture 26 for the reception of the bolt 27, said bolt \having a head 28 which is engaged b the lower end of the valve stem, and the a justment affordedthe bolt by reason of the threaded connection between the said bolt and the upper portion of the sleeve permits ofan adjustment which insures roper seating of the valve and proper li ting of the saidvalve as the cam operates.

There are oil ducts or portions 32 between the body and the sleeve, oil ducts 33 between the outer sleeve and the inner sleeve and oil ducts 34 by which lubricant is admitted to the interior of the inner sleeve sothat it may find its way through the opening 35 to the grooves 36. The upper edge of the sleeve 18 is indicated by the numeral 37 and the spring 30 has its lower end bearing against the seat 22 formed on the interior of the outer sleeve. A lock nut 29 is employed for holding the bolt 27 at different positions of adjustment and it has been found in practice that a device made in accordance with the foregoing responds quickly to the action of the cam; therefore the closing and opening of the ports is accomplished in a manner to insure proper clearance of the products of combustion of the explosive charge and the proper confining of the charge prior to its being ignited. The yieldable connection between the outer and inner sleeves, due to the presence of the spring is effective as a cushioning means and owing to the fact that provision is made for lubrication at all points where friction occurs, insures durability and smooth operation of the parts.

In the operation of my device the rotation of the camshaft causes the cam-surface car ried thereon to engage the ball-bearing 21,

' carried upon the outer sleeve 37, and thereby effects the lifting of the same. Inasmuch as the valve-spring 13 is materially stifier than is the spring 30 the inner sleeve 19, which contacts through the bolt 27 with the valve stem end will be held temporarily rigid thereby, so that the initial lifting of the said outer sleeve 37 will first effect a compression of the spring 30 and close together the convolutions thereof upon another through the taking-up of the interhelical spaces, until said spring 30 becomes essentially like unto a solid tube; whereupon the further lifting motion of the outer sleeve will communicated through the now compressed and unyielding s ring 30 to the inner sleeve 19 and the valve-stem, and the continued lifting of saidouter sleeve will thereby effect the raising of the valve in usuaLmanner.

When, in the course of the cycle of motoroperation the valve lowers and again reseats, the tendency of the spring 30 to revalve-lifting mechanism by which the necessary clearance between valve-stem and pushrod is distributed between the helices of the spring 30. In such manner the requisite amount of clearance is secured by aggregat- I 1 ing the interhelical spaces of the spring, which spaces are individually of such minute proportions asto preclude the possibility of appreciablevnoise or vibration attending the closing together of the same.

A further advantage incident to the foregoing construction will be found to reside in the fact that the spring 30 also allows a liberal margin to compensate for the expansion of the valve and push-rods incident to the heating-up of the motor.

I claim- 1. In a valve mechanism, a valve and it stem, a spring for holding the valve normally seated, a bod -portion comprising a housing adapted to e secured to an engine case, an outer sleeve slidable in'said housing, said sleeve having an aperture in its lower end and a seat forming a ball-race with which the aperture connects for effecting communication between the interior of the sleeve and the said ball-race, a ball seated in said ball-race, a cam engaging the said ball, a spring located within the outer sleeve, said spring'embodying coils lying in close proximity but substantially non-contiguous with each other, which coils-become closed together by the initial valve and seating movement of said outer sleeve and thereby causes said spring thereafter to operate as an unyielding element in communicating the further valve unseating movement of the said outer sleeve to the valve, said spring having its lower end bearing against a seat formed in said outer sleeve, an inner sleeve slidable in the outer sleeve and having a reduced depending portion forming an annular space in which the upper end of the spring is located, the said spring bearing against a shoulder at the junction of the inner sleeve and its extension, a body-portion arising from the said sleeve and having a threaded aperture therein, a bolt threaded in said aperture and adjustable with relation to the valve stem, the said valve stem engaging the head of the said bolt, the said body having oil ducts leading from the exterior to the interior thereof, said outer sleeve having oil ducts in its inner surface and the said body portion having oil ducts in its inner surface.

2. In valve lifting mechanism for motors or the like, a valve seat, a valve having a valve stem and provided with a spring arranged normally to hold said valve seated on said seat, intermittently operating actuating means for imparting a valve unseating movement to said lifting mechanism, said lifting mechanism including cooperating sleeves longitudinally movable with respect to each other and having interposed between the adjacent inner ends of the same a spring embodying coils lying in close proximity but substantially non-contiguous with each other, which coils become closed together into contact relation with the coils adjacent thereto by the initial valve unseating movement of said actuating means and thereby cause said spring thereafter to operate as an unyielding element of determinate length in communicating the further valve unseating movement of the actuating means to the valve, the outer end of one of said sleeves being in engagement with the valve stem and .the outer end of the other sleeve being in operative engagement with the said valve actuating means.

3. In valve lifting mechanism for motors or the like, a valve seat, a valve having a valve stem and provided with a spring arranged normally to hold said valve seated on said seat, an inner sleeve arranged to engage the valve stem, an outer sleeve and intermittently operating actuating means for imparting a valve lifting movement thereto, and a spring interposed between said inner and outer sleeves, said spring embodying coils lying in close proximity but substantially non-contiguous with each other, which coils become closed together into contact relation with the coils adjacent thereto by the initial valve lifting movement of the outer sleeve and thereby cause said spring thereafter to operate as an unyielding element of determinate length in communicating the further valve unseating movement of said outer sleeve to the inner sleeve and the valve.

4. In valve unseating means, the combination with a valve-seat, a valve arranged to engage said seat, and a valve-spring arranged normally to hold said valve seated on said valve-seat, of actuating means for effecting the unseating of said valve, in-

cluding a spring interposed between the valve and the valve actuating means, which said spring embodies resilient portions arranged to lie in close proximity but normally non-compacted together, which said spring portions are arranged to become compacted together by the initial valve unseating movement of the actuating means until said spring becomes a rigid element of determinate length which serves to communicate the further valve unseating movement of the actuating means to the valve.

5. In valve unseating means or the like, a valve seat, a valve arranged to engage said seat and provided with a valve stem, a valve spring arranged for holding said valve normally seated on said valve seat, actuating means for eflecting an unseating movement of the valve through the valve stem, means interposed between said actuating means and said valve stem which include a spring interposed therein embodying coils lying in close proximity but substantially noncontiguous with each other, which coils become closed together into contact relation with the coils next adjacent thereto by the initial valve unseating movement of said actuating means and thereby cause said spring thereafter to operate as an unyielding element of determinate length in communicating the further valve unseating movement of the actuating means to the valve.

6. In valve lifting mechanism formotors and the like, a valve seat, a valve arranged to engage said seat and provided with a valve stem, a valve spring arranged for holding said valve normally seated on said valve seat, a cam for effecting an unseating movement of the valve, a valve tappet comprising an upper portion adapted to engage the valx e stem, and a lower portion in operative engagement with the cam, and a spring In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. SUFFA.

Witnesses HENRY C. THoMsoN, LILLIAN K. HALEY. 

